Made For Each Other
by Bumi the Non-Bender
Summary: [AU where linumi happened instead of linzin] A 26 year old Bumi has found feelings for the soon to be 20 year old Lin. Working up the courage to ask her out for a date is harder than he ever thought.
1. Chapter 1

In Sickness and in Health

After a murderous – somewhat literally – week at work, Lin was finally off for the next few days because of the holiday weekend. All she wanted to do was get home, sit on the couch with Bumi, have a cold one, and then maybe something more later on after that. She walked begrudgingly up the stairs to her door, her armor weighing her down and making every footfall heavy.

She opened the door and bent it closed behind her before she dumped her armor unceremoniously by the hall tree that held her overcoat, sweater, etc. as well as Bumi's jackets. Lin walked through the hall, on the prowl for Bumi. Her steps now light as a feather when compared to just a few moments ago. The small patting of her bare feet on the tile at each step the only sound in the house. Normally when she came home, Bumi was in the kitchen or on the couch – sometimes listening to the radio. But today he was nowhere to be seen or heard.

Lin peeked into the living room, seeing the chair he favored empty. She turned around and looked over into the kitchen, no sign. She pensively tapped her chin before hearing a wheezing cough from the bedroom. She whirled around on her heel and walked quickly to the door, opening it just as swiftly.

Before her, tucked in bed with a bright red nose and bloodshot eyes, was her husband. The tissue box next to him long since empty and the small garbage can at the side of the bed overflowing. "Bumi… You look like crap." she stated with her usual eloquence.

He looked back at her with a slight smile, nose running. He sniffled, "I- I didn't want to get you sick." He coughed into his fist violently, the entire bed practically shaking from the act. Bumi pulled the blanket up over his chest and letting his head fall back into the pillow.

Lin sighed, 'So much for the long weekend…' she thought to herself. She walked over to the bed and picked up the trashcan with her bending, not wanting to touch the tissues with her hands. "I'll be back in a minute. Uh… don't go anywhere?" she walked off and threw the tissues into a larger trash bag and grabbed a new box of tissues. She stopped into the kitchen and set the tea kettle to boil before heading back to him.

"Lin, you-" he coughed again into his elbow, "you should go out tonight. Stay away. I don't want you to get-" she glared at him, silencing the words before they left his sore throat. She set the trash can beside the bed and opened the new box of tissues for him, taking one out and wiping his nose.

"Blow." she commanded as she held it in place for him. He didn't fuss, trying to blow out his nose for her. She shook her head softly as she heard his congestion. "How long have you felt like this?"

"A couple days…" he admitted, averting his watery eyes from her gaze. She threw away the tissue into the bin before grabbing another.

"Again." she held it for him. He looked at her pleadingly.

"I'm not a _child_…" he pouted, but did as he was told. She grabbed a third tissue and dabbed at his eyes softly. She'd not cared for someone like this in ages… the last time would have been when she was no more than eight or nine and Su had a cold. Toph could do some things for illness, but proper care was hard when you could only see from earthbending. Whenever Lin had been sick she had to be cared for by someone else for the most part.

She leaned down and placed a tender kiss on his forehead. He was warm to the touch, clearly running a sizeable fever. "You might as well be in _this_ state." she stroked his hair softly and looked at him with concern that was only seen in the eyes of a mother or a wife. She stood, walking into the bathroom and running the cold water. Lin opened the cabinet, taking a face cloth out and getting it wet. She wrung out the excess water into the basin and turned the water back off. Heading back into the bedroom she folded the face cloth and wiped softly at his brow and forehead before placing it there.

The kettle whistled in the kitchen and she looked once more at him as she stood to leave. She was stopped by a small tug on her hand and turned to see Bumi looking lovingly at her. "You have wonderful eyes…" he commented out of the blue. "I love you."

"You've lost your mind… I love you too." she chuckled and walked out as soon as he let go of her hand. She took a cup from the cupboard and set it on the counter. Skillfully, she bent the kettle up and tipped it so the liquid poured out and into the cup. She set it back on the stove top and returned to Bumi with the steaming beverage.

Lin took the face cloth off him, the heat from him having been pulled into it. She set it aside on the night stand and smiled. She blew across the tea to cool it down before touching the edge to his lips and placing her other hand behind his head. "Just a little. Theeeeere you go."

He looked at her, having never seen her _this_ compassionate before. It melted his heart, the tears in his eyes no longer from being ill but from pure love. The tea felt nice, even if Lin was still fairly bad at making it taste as nice as Bumi could. But the way she made it and the care she put into having him drink made it the best damn cup of tea Bumi had ever had in his life. She noticed the tears in his eyes and mistook them for just them being watery like before, gingerly dabbing them with a tissue.

He was given another sip of tea before she set it on the night stand. Lin sat next to him and cradled his head to her chest. She rubbed his neck, the muscles sore from the sickness. He couldn't help but groan softly from it. Rubbing gently but firmly, she knew what she was doing. Lin never – _never –_ gave massages before Bumi. She was always too rough whenever she had tried and ended up just leaving bruises. Something about him made her softer, gentler, as a person. In private, that is. And it also helped that he often would give her a massage after a hard day, her armor pinching a muscle in her neck or back. Lin picked up a few tricks from his example.

She worked his neck and shoulders for quite some time before his head leaned back onto her collarbone and he looked into her eyes. She stopped trying to massage there and placed her fingers on his temples, rubbing there instead. He sighed softly and closed his eyes, knowing he'd never in a million years convince her to not worry about him and take the night off for herself.

In a few minutes the exhaustion from being ill overwhelmed Bumi in conjunction with Lin's gently ministrations, and he fell asleep. The congestion was still there, causing him to snore lightly. Lin's arms held him, her hands on his chest, rubbing sweetly. She craned her head down and placed a tender kiss on his forehead. It was only 8 o'clock at night, but she ended up sitting there the entire night. She fell asleep holding him, with her cheek resting on his hairline.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

After he and Kya had finished up eating, they decided to head home so Bumi could think about what he wanted to do. His mind was rushing with ideas and thoughts of how to ask her, but he felt like Lin would say no. He thought of things he could say if she did to maybe convince her to give him a chance, change her mind. Of course he felt stupid, Kya had given him some great advice but he was so nervous. He really did want to go out with Lin, he just… he was worried that he'd ruin a great friendship if she said no.

When they got back, they saw that Appa was in the yard so their father must have gotten home at some point while they were out. It was a little weird, usually he wouldn't be home until after dark, but it was still fairly early in the afternoon.

"Hey there little buddy!" Bumi smiled and rubbed Appa's side, who turned and made a happy grunt before licking both him and Kya. Bumi laughed heartily, but Kya wasn't as amused at having to redo her hair after the slobber messed it all up. She bent the bison spit off and tossed it aside.

"Hi Appa. Bye Appa." she said, patting his forehead before walking off. "Bumi, I gotta go fix this." she pointed to her hair, which was standing nearly upright despite her trying to mat it down. "Go think about what we talked about for a bit, ok?" she smiled. Kya was giddy with excitement at the prospect of Bumi and Lin being a couple, even if Bumi was for once in his life shy.

The fact that he was so timid about Lin was interesting, the relationships he had as a teen were pretty spontaneous and easy for him until they inevitably ended. But he hadn't – to her knowledge – been on another date since he and Izumi had once on a dare from none other than Kya. It was funny and they had a good time it seemed, but they definitely didn't see each other in that way. They shook hands on it and since then Izumi had some guy she fancied and Bumi… Well Bumi just had been on his own. That must have been almost five years ago now, by Kya's count.

Bumi was left with Appa, who was munching on some feed that was left out for him. Bumi sighed and sat down, leaning against Appa's right foreleg. The bison glanced at him and made a sound before going back to eating.

"Huh? Oh… not much buddy. Just thinking." Bumi replied. He and Appa had always had a special sort of relationship since he was a little kid, he always got along well with animals. Appa grumbled again and Bumi laughed, "No. I'm gonna ask Lin out for a date." The bison stopped eating and turned his head to look at Bumi. "I know, I know. But I think it's the right choice." Appa licked Bumi again, little bits of feed sticking to his clothes. "Well _now_ I have to go change! I'll see ya later then." Bumi stood and gave Appa a pet on the nose before he walked towards the house.

As he walked inside, he saw his father sitting in the kitchen with a small bowl of fruit in front of him, reading some paperwork. He didn't notice Bumi had walked in so Bumi went straight up to him and snagged an apple.

"Why're you home so early?" Bumi asked, taking a bite.

Aang smiled up at his son, "I had to come home for awhile, grab some papers." he lifted the ones in his hands. "Better question is…" he grabbed an apple for himself, "Why are _you_ home?"

Bumi looked at him with a confused look, "What do you mean?"

"Well Kya said something about you going out with Lin or someth-"

"What?! She… Ugh." Bumi pinched the bridge of his nose. "She wasn't going to tell anyone… I mean it isn't that big a deal, I guess but…"

"So uh, I need to go um... Do dad stuff." Aang said, feeling awkward about bringing it up. "See you later Boom." he pat Bumi's arm before heading out of the room swiftly, his robes flowing behind him. "Uh. Tenzin?! It's um. Special airbending tornado thingy training time?" he called as he walked down the hall.

With a sigh, Bumi kept eating his apple. He smirked and thought about what he was going to do. After a minute or two he was finished with the apple and tossed the core in a trash container. He went down the hall his father had gone down and saw Tenzin and his father airbending in some weird random pattern that was obvious his father was making up as he went because of Bumi. When he made it to his room he swapped out his shirt and made sure that his hair was presentable.

When he was finished Bumi walked back outside. He saw Appa had finished his feed and was taking a nap on his side. He smiled as he walked past and headed to the small dock, seeing that the boat he and Kya had taken earlier was still there. He hopped inside and untied it from the dock. It had a small engine on the back which he yanked the cord to start it a couple times. With a cough, the engine began to hum and Bumi gave it some fuel.

He sailed across the bay in a record 17 minutes, his previous being 18 and a half. He thought to himself about investing in a newer motor, he'd seen some advertised recently. With that thought he nearly crashed into the pier. He spun the boat to the side, his momentum nearly tossing him out of it. The rope to tie it off he grabbed and hurled the loop at the dock and hooked on. The boat jerked but stopped, Bumi pulled the rope to haul himself in. When he was secured, he stepped up onto the dock and tied off his line.

He paid the harbormaster for the space he was using and headed up the ramp to the street level. It took him a minute to remember where Lin's home was from the docks. He figured it wasn't too far off, maybe a five or ten minute walk at most. No problem.

After twenty minutes he realized he had miscalculated and hailed a cab, giving the address and driving the rest of the way. He would have been walking for nearly another hour if he hadn't decided a cab was a better idea. Bumi paid the driver and stepped out to see the house, but found himself stuck to the ground. He tried to take a step forward but his feet were unresponsive. He practically had to jump to get himself closer, and finally started to make some small steps up the walkway and to the door.

He then found he had spontaneously lost control over his arms when he went to knock. He stood there having an internal fight for control over his own body back, He finally got his arm to move up, slowly headed to the knocker. He grasped it with his fingers and drew it back then swinging it forward to clack loudly with the receiver piece. He didn't know if he had done it hard enough so he brought it back and knocked three more quick times so it didn't seem like just a random noise the first time.

He waited for about a minute before the lock was turned and the door opened, Lin standing behind it. "Oh, uh… hey Bumi. What're you doing here?" she asked, happily surprised but genuinely curious.

Bumi fumbled with his hands for a moment, "I… I uh… I came to talk to you, if that's alright."

"I was in the middle of something, but I can give you a few minutes, sure." she ushered him inside but his feet were stuck again. "Or I can come outside…" she muttered.

"So Lin… I…" he started, unsure of what to say now that he was actually here.

"Spit it out, Bumi." she tried to sound encouraging.

"Do you wanna go out sometime? Like on a date? With me?" he asked, looking down.

"Oh. Uh." she thought for a second, a little unprepared for the question. But Bumi was a great guy and all… and it wasn't like he was unattractive or anything… "Yeah, sure. Why not?" she smiled with a slight shrug.

"It's just that I really like you and have for awhile and I think it'd be nice to have us just get to be us… but together. And then the whole thing where I just wanted to maybe see if you'd be-" Lin put her hand on his arm and he stopped, looking up at her.

"Bumi? I said yes." she smiled again. "When?" she asked.

"Y-yes? WAAAAHOO!" he was ecstatic. "Oh! Oh. Uh, when are you free? I'm just sitting around doing nothing most of the time so whenever works for you?" Bumi regain his composure and cleared his throat.

"I'm just working on studying for the police academy most times, I can put it off for a bit. I can't join until after my birthday anyway, and even then I don't think I'm ready just yet. How about tomorrow? Give us both a little prep time? 7 o'clock sound ok?"

"Sure!" he coughed, "Sure. I'll be here at seven to pick you up." he smiled and stood there for a moment, unsure what to do next.

"I'll see you then Bumi. Just… try to relax, ok?" she hugged him and pressed a little kiss to his cheek, which was the _wrong_ thing to do if she wanted him to relax.

"Ok I will I'll see you then I won't be late don't worry bye." he rambled as she backed into the door and waved goodbye. Bumi nearly skipped down the walkway with a massive grin on his face. When Lin closed the door she leaned back against it, a small smile on her lips. She hadn't ever thought Bumi felt like that. She never used the word 'cute' but the way he was so shy was definitely an excuse for her to.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Bumi didn't realize that he had started walking again instead of taking a cab back to the dock. He was beyond excited; his heart was still pounding in his chest. He was so deep in thought that he didn't even realize he had walked all the way back to the dock and actually passed it, having to turn around and go back. His mind was racing about what he was going to do, all he had been thinking about was getting her to say yes, he hadn't thought of the actual date itself!

He had plenty of time to think about it, not like he hadn't been already. He went down and retrieved his little boat, steeping inside and casting off. The little motor on the back chugged away as he went back home across the bay. He figured he could always make up a few ideas with Kya's help tonight and tomorrow and then he could pitch them to Lin when he went to pick her up and see what she wanted.

He made sure this time to be more focused once he got close to Air Temple Island so he wouldn't repeat his mistake when he left and end up crashing. As soon as he made it and was secure he nearly jumped up all the stairs and ran to his room. He passed his sister in the hall who was casually walking and nearly spun around when he almost crashed into her.

"Bumi? Bumi!" she called after him, jogging up to her brother when he stopped and turned after hearing his name. "Well? How did it go?" she smiled, poking his chest lightly. "What happened?"

He took a deep breath and rambled on about every detail at a remarkable pace, one that was too fast for Kya to hear most of. She look at him with confusion over much of it, especially about his feet not working or whatever he was saying.

"Bumi, slow down! I can't keep up with what you're saying." she finally stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Start over from when you got out of the cab."

He sighed, "So. I got out of the cab. I couldn't bring myself to move. I finally made it up to the door. I couldn't move my arms. After awhile I was able to grab the knocker. I knocked. She opened the door. I said 'hi'. She said 'hi'. She asked why I was there after I fumbled with my words. I spat out that I wanted to go on a date with her. She said yes. I kept going with reasons why and she stopped me and told me again. We have a date for tomorrow at seven. Ok?"

"She said yes?! Oh that's great! What're you two gonna do? Where're you going?" Kya was intrigued by the whole thing, she figured it would be a really nice little time for her friend and brother to go out together – they seemed bored and frankly, lonely.

"I… don't know yet. I didn't think it that far ahead until she said yes. I was going to see the paper in my room and look if there was anything going on tomorrow. Do you know off the top of your head if there is?" he needed all the help he could get and Kya was definitely the person he felt most comfortable to ask.

"Nothing fancy or anything, there's some gala-y thingy opening but I have a feeling Lin would be bored to tears if you dragged her to that. Why don't you just go out to eat? Maybe go to the park after? Something like that would be nice."

He smirked, "You think? I just don't wanna mess this up. Kinda like my one and only shot, you know? But if that's what you think, I guess that'd be ok. You know Lin pretty well, so I trust you on that."

"Good. Because I _do_ know what girls like, so… But you'll be fine if you just be yourself! You still look all up-tight." she poked and prodded his chest and ribs. "How about you relax with me? I was going to do a little meditation when you ran past, actually. It'll be fuuunnn." Kya teased, she knew Bumi couldn't meditate even when their father tried to teach him.

"Yeah sure…" he said, much to Kya's surprise. "I mean, I don't _want_ to but I do want to relax, so… I guess I could give it a try for an hour or something." He smiled and walked with her outside, sitting down by one of the trees that was in bloom. He mimicked Kya's actions and sat as she did, trying to clear his head.

After a few minutes of coaching, Kya was meditating while Bumi fiddled with himself trying his best to as well. It didn't seem to be working for him, not like that was much of a surprise to anybody. After another half hour of him sitting in silence next to an either sleeping or 'meditating' Kya, Bumi finally stood up and went to his room. He never really got the whole meditation thing, he figured he'd just spend a little time doing what he knew would help him. He grabbed his sword and boomerang before heading to a secluded part of the Island.

His Uncle Sokka had trained him quite a lot on swordsmanship and boomerang work, it was just a nice little bit of bonding between the non-benders of the family. When he was out, he threw his boomerang at a few random objects, hitting all with precision. After a half hour he started some forms of attack and defense, slicing up some bushes and sticks. It took him an hour or so to finally feel at ease, so he sheathed his sword and picked up his boomerang before heading back to his room.

By the time he made it back it was getting close to dinner, so he put his weapons in their normal place in his closet and freshened up so he didn't smell like Appa after it rained. By the time he was changed and all, the gong for dinner was being rung. He made it through the corridors to the dining area and had a pleasant meal, keeping an eye on Kya so she wouldn't say anything to his parents. Luckily his father knew better than to say anything after what had happened earlier, so it was fairly normal and quiet. He wanted to be well rested in case his date with Lin ran late so he turned in soon after the meal was over.

**The Next Day**

Bumi had a fairly regular morning, he did a little around the Island so he didn't feel like he was just leeching off of his position as the Avatar's son. By lunchtime, he couldn't hold it back anymore and started thinking about Lin and only Lin. He couldn't do anything else, he started to get excited again at the idea, but was able to calm himself down after what both Lin and Kya had told him about being himself and relaxing.

Lin, on the other hand, had been doing nothing but stressing over it all. Her mother had come home after a bad day at the station and Su was being, well she was being Su. It was a rough day after Bumi had left, but… it was interestingly timed that he would ask her out and be the highlight pretty bad day. It was nice that she had nothing going on while her mother and sister were gone the day of the date, she blew off anything related to the academy.

It had been too long since she had gone on a proper date, and she wanted it to be nice. It was hard for her to have fun, but this would be a good outlet for her. Lin wanted to be prompt, ready before seven so Bumi wouldn't have to wait. She didn't care for makeup but decided to raid Su's stash and put on just a tad, nothing major or fancy. When it came to her hair she didn't see anything wrong with wearing it like she always did, so she was finished sooner than she had expected. It was only half-past 4.

"Ugh, why didn't I wait awhile…?" she thought to herself as she plopped on the couch. She had a long wait ahead of her until Bumi would show up. She was half tempted to place a call over to the Island and see if he'd be ok with coming over earlier but thought better of it, thinking the idea too presumptuous. She had absolutely nothing better to do than to sit there and wait, but she wasn't one to just watch the seconds on the clock tick by. Lin grabbed her book that she was using to prepare for the academy entrance examination and began to read where she had left off.

She had barely gotten through a chapter when there was a knock at the door. She rolled her eyes and stood up, heading over and unlocking it. She blinked a few times when she saw it was Bumi, with – where those flowers?

"Uh, you're a bit early, aren't you?" she asked, accepting the flowers he offered her.

"No… Am I? You _did_ say seven o'clock, right? Is my watch off?" he took out his pocket watch and clicked it open. "According to this I'm only two minutes early…"

Lin smirked slightly, "Let me put these in water, ok?" she smiled and turned, glancing at the clock as she walked. The time it took her to make it through that chapter had burned up all the time from when she sat on the couch to when it was time for her date. She grabbed a glass out of the cabinet and added some water before placing the flowers in it. A little cheap looking of a container, but she figured she could switch it for a better one later.

"So, I wanted to ask your opinion on where to go? Dinner alright? Maybe the park or something?" Bumi asked from the doorway, too unsure of himself to enter the house that he had been to a thousand times as a kid given the current reason for his visit.

"Oh, dinner's a good idea." she replied as she walked back to the door. She grabbed her coat off the hook and smiled. "Ok, ready to go." Lin closed the door behind herself and locked it, walking with Bumi down to the sidewalk.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Lin wasn't sure exactly what to do with her hands as they walked to the street. Without thinking about it she fiddled with them slightly, she smiled at Bumi when they stopped walking. "So… Where to?" she asked.

"I'm up for anything, there're so many places that are good. What are you in the mood for?"

"Oh! I read about some new place that just opened a couple days ago in the paper. Nar… something. I know the address though."

"Oh, sure. Fine by me." he smiled and waited until he saw a cab pull by and waved for it. He hadn't even heard where she suggested, he'd eat anything so long as she wanted it. She had the address for the driver who nodded, starting them off. He turned to her and couldn't help but smile.

"What? Why the smile?" she asked, giving him a playful jab in the arm. He rubbed his arm and chuckled a bit.

"Nothing, honestly… Just… You look great." his smile widened after saying so. Lin blushed and glanced away for a moment. She looked back to him, a small smile on her own face.

"You don't look so bad yourself." she laughed lightly. Bumi's hand moved up and moved a stray hair out of her face that had slipped when she looked away.

"Just fixing one…" he said at the look she gave him. When he pulled his hand back she smiled and sat back in her seat. Lin looked out the window for a moment, trying to think of what to say. She definitely was glad he had asked her out but didn't want it to go poorly because of her.

"How's things at the Island?" she finally asked, not sure of what else to talk about.

"Oh, it's all good. Folks are doing well… Kya's, well I don't really know what she's been up to, actually. Tenzin's still got that stick-up-the-butt-it is. I'm afraid it's turned… terminal." he faked a sniffle. Lin's smile turned into a laugh at the joke, which made Bumi relax more than words could express. "Oh and Appa says hello." he added with a goofy grin.

"Aw how sweet of him, that big ol' softie." Lin laughed again at the idea of the bison wanting to say hi. She thought maybe it'd be good for her to get out more and maybe go to the Island. Well if things went well with Bumi after this she'd have a reason to. She thought on that for a minute before cutting herself off as getting a little ahead of herself, just needing to focus on the date at hand.

"What about you? How's it been at home?" he stretched out a bit in his seat, placing his hand on the gap between them.

"Oh you know how it goes. Mom's working a lot and brings her work home a lot, Su's still… She's still not doing well in school and she takes a lot of stuff out on me. I'm just trying to help her and she attacks me like I'm criticizing her every act. It's the people she hangs out with." She smirked, "Oh well, only so much I can do." Lin shrugged. When she resettled in her seat her hand landed and rested onto his and she pulled away. "Sorry."

Bumi didn't say anything, instead moving his hand up to take hers which had just been on his own. "It's ok, don't worry about it. You can touch me, I don't mind." he smiled and then realized that could have been taken a different way. "Oh crap forget I said that I didn't mean it like-" He was cut off by Lin giggling quietly at how flustered he got over it.

"I know what you meant." she had surprisingly not take her hand from his, letting him still hold onto it. She took it a step further and gave his hand a small squeeze to reassure him.

The cabby turned around, "Alright you two love birds, that's gonna be 32 yuans." he stuck out his hand for the money, which Bumi placed in his palm before exiting the cab and rushing around the other side to get Lin's door before she had a chance to open it fully.

"Oh… thanks." she got out of the cab and Bumi closed the door behind her, seeing the cab driver pull away quickly to grab his next fare. When she saw the sign she pointed "Na_rook's_! That was the name." she turned to look at him with a smile as they walked inside. Bumi didn't dare say he'd already been, thinking it would spoil her good mood about being there.

He walked to the receptionist who took them to a booth in a semi-private area that was much less busy than the rest of the restaurant, which was definitely looking like the proper dinner time crowd for a successful business. They looked at the menus for a few minutes before a server came over to get their drink order. "Tea ok?" Bumi asked Lin, looking up from his menu.

"Yeah sure that's fine, I'm up for whatever kind." she looked back down to her menu and continued to read the menu.

Bumi pointed to the one that he and Kya had had the other day, getting a nod as the server walked off. Lin perused the menu over and over again, unable to decide between a few items. She had a small smirk on her face as she went back and forth between them all.

"I can't choose…" she admitted, setting down her menu. "Between the pan fried noodles and uh…" she pointed since the word seemed so foreign to her – must have been a Water Tribe word – "this one, what do you think?" She smiled and he looked at which ones she was looking at.

"Oh those ones were really good here-" he caught his slip-up and pointed to the noodles he and Kya both ordered the day before.

"Wait, you've been here before? I thought it just opened!" Lin smirked, feeling a little down at making him come back to a place he had already been. "We can go somewhere else if you want?" she offered, trying to recover from it.

"No no no! You wanted to come here, don't worry about it!" he smiled as best he could, hoping that he hadn't blown it.

"But… you already were here. It's fine, we can go, it doesn't matter really." she smiled back and moved to stand. Bumi's hand moved and took hold of hers gently.

"Lin, please? It's ok. I want to be here. It doesn't matter where, just to be in the moment." Lin blushed at his words and settled back into her seat and smiled. She found it sweet that he had tried to hide that he had been there before from her so she could go. There was another one of those words she never used… She wasn't sure why she kept thinking with those sorts of words that hadn't been a major part of her vocabulary before.

"If you're sure, I guess I can't argue." she moved her menu aside. "I'll take your word for it on those noodles then." Bumi placed his menu on top of hers and the waiter took notice, coming over and taking their orders. He also had their tea with him, setting it on the table before he left. Bumi poured a cup for Lin and then himself.

"Sorry for not telling you, I just saw how you wanted to go and figured it wasn't a big deal." he shrugged. Bumi lifted his cup to his mouth and took a tentative sip of the tea, finding it wasn't as hot as it had been when he and Kya had ordered it.

"Oh, don't mention it. Like you said, it isn't a big deal." she smiled and picked up her own cup, taking a sip. "Ooh, I like this. I take it you and Kya tried it?" Lin asked with a small smile.

"Yeah, we did. I figured you'd like it." He set his cup down slowly, "I'm glad you said yes. I've… I've just been thinking the past few weeks and thought that I'd take a shot."

"Well I'm glad you asked; this is nice. I'm normally stuck at home doing nothing anyway, I was surprised you…" she trailed off.

"Surprised I… what?"

"I was surprised you asked. I never would have thought you'd ask me. But I have to admit this is the highlight of my week." She took another sip of tea.

"How's the studying going, by the way?"

Lin paused, "It's alright, not too bad. The academy exam is supposed to be pretty tough after my mom decided it was too lax. So I have her to thank for stressing me out so much about this." She laughed and put her hand out to his. "I haven't been able to talk to anyone about it. She doesn't care and Su… I think Su hates me sometimes the way she talks to me. I don't know what I ever did to her." The smile on her face turned to a frown.

"You're her big sister, it's just how it works. Kya was like that with me for awhile, same with Tenzin. Well… Tenzin's still kind of like that I guess. It just happens that way sometime. Try not to let her get to you." Bumi smiled and she was a little relieved to have someone else who knew what she was going through. Usually she just had to sit at home and deal with both of them, but being able to talk just a little seemed to take the edge off.

"Thanks. I'm glad I'm not the only one." she squeezed his hand softly, looking over to see their server coming over with two steaming bowls of noodles. "Food's here." she added, nodding over to the server. Bumi looked and smiled, taking his napkin and putting it on his lap. The bowls were placed in front of them carefully as to not spill any over the sides. "Smells good, thanks for the recommendation."

"No problem!" Bumi replied, taking a moderate bite of food. Even though it was intensely hot, it was supposed to be according to the way he'd always ever had it. Since it was Water Tribe, it needed to be served hot or else by the time you got halfway through it – it'd have turned into ice. Lin seemed surprised at how he ate but took a bite herself.

"These _are_ good." she said between bites. It was relatively quiet during the meal itself, their main topics for conversation having already been expended during the cab ride and while waiting for their meal. Bumi felt awkward at the silence, but didn't say anything, thinking that it was better silent than filled with bad conversation.

Finally he spoke up, "So what should we do after this? It's nice out. Care for a walk? Or… something?" he didn't have a preference, but wanted to make the most of this time, and make sure that it was what Lin wanted to do not himself – from what he understood that was Tenzin's biggest mistake, followed closely by what Bumi had been avoiding with pointless and boring conversation.

"A walk seems nice. I wouldn't mind that. The bay would give a nice breeze off it this time of night." she smiled again; it dawned on her that she hadn't smiled this much in ages.

"Alright then, that sounds great!" he beamed, continuing to eat his noodles. Inside, he was relieved that it seemed to be going well. She was smiling, which he figured that was the best sign. And that she had held his hand a little before he also took to be a good sign. The rest of their meal was again quiet, mostly them eating and occasionally stealing glances at one another; if they caught each other's eye they'd stop and smile softly.

When the bill came Lin made a grab for it, being that she came from the Beifong line and could afford to pay for them to go on a thousand such dates without batting an eye, but Bumi was just barely quicker. She folder her arms across her chest, "Bumi I can pay, you don't have to."

"I asked _you_ out. I _do_ have to." he replied, smiling. He placed the cash down for their check total and then some, as a tip for the waiter. He stood, helping Lin with her coat before putting his own on. They walked outside at a casual pace, the bay being fairly close to them. He and Kya had taken the cab the other day out of convenience, but it wasn't really all that far.

"This is nice, Bumi. Really." Lin said, looking up to him as they walked. "I wasn't sure what was going to happen tonight but I'm glad we went out. And there's still time in the day." she walked with her hands in her pockets, unsure of what else to do. Bumi himself was doing the exact same, most times he'd ever been on a date he'd have his arm around her or she'd be all over him. But Lin wasn't just some girl he met one day out and about, this was _Lin_.

"I think it's nice too. I… I'd like to again, if you'd like to – that is." he didn't want to come across as being too forward, but when she slid her arm to hook their elbows together he felt his heart skip a beat.

"I would. But how about we keep going with tonight and think about the next one after?" she smiled, walking with him closer and closer to the bay. After a ways, he felt himself loosen up and becoming comfortable with the contact she and him were having. He adjusted how his arm was so it didn't seem so rigid.

"Sure thing, I quite enjoy this one as it is!" he laughed, then shortly after hearing the light sound of the waves coming up to the beach and the pier. It had gotten darker than he had expected, there wasn't much moonlight coming through the clouds. "Do you mind the sand?" he asked as they got closer to it.

"Not a bit. Considering." she smiled as they transferred from the brick street to the sand. He couldn't see it, but she was bending the sand underneath her feet to be solid earth while they walked and letting it fall back into sand when her foot lifted off. It wasn't that she minded the sand; it was that she didn't want it to get in her shoes and have to bend it out later. The waves were still crashing onto the beach, not large waves but smaller ones normally seen at that time of night.

Bumi walked at her pace, slowing when she did until she finally stopped and just looked out over the water. He turned to look over it as well, breathing in the salty sea breeze. He stood there and took a deep breath of the air, seeing the moon finally peeking out through the clouds behind the large statue of his father – just to the side of him between his head and his extended staff. The glow lit up the night much more than it had been and when he looked over to Lin his jaw nearly dropped at the way the moonlight shone off her.

"Bumi? You ok?" she asked after noticing his stare. He swallowed dryly and nodded.

"Yeah it's just… Spirits, you're beautiful." he uttered quietly and then realized he had said it out loud and not in his head. Her eyes locked onto his and even in the darkness her blush was noticeable – which was saying quite a bit considering how infrequently anyone had ever gotten her to blush.

Maybe it was the way he made her blush or what he said, but she one second was standing there looking shyly at him and the next was on her tip-toes with her lips pressed softly against his. His eyes went wide but he didn't pull away; he kissed her back but nothing like any other kiss he'd had before. It was sweet and chaste, and soon she had pulled back and stood back the way she had before. He blinked, heart still hammering in his chest at it – he had never had a kiss that had done that to him.

She smiled and acted almost like nothing had happened. Lin squeezed his arm lightly and looked back up to see the moon just as it was covered by clouds again. It darkened considerably after it disappeared, causing Lin to sigh softly. It was such a nice moment while it was there, shame that it went so quickly. "What time is it?" she asked. Bumi pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time, having to hold it at all sorts of different angels to get the hands to show up with so little light.

"Uh, it's either 10:30 or just after 3. So I think it's probably the former." he slipped it back into his pocket. Lin started to walk again, Bumi following at her pace. They got close to the pier again and Lin slowed once more.

"Could I… Could I maybe come over for awhile?" she asked. She didn't want the night to end so soon and figured maybe they could just listen to the radio or something for awhile.

"I don't see why not, my boat's just down there anyway." he pointed, the small boat the only one which wasn't settled in for the night with tarps, ropes, or things like that for the people that made a living off the water. He led her down the steps, the harbormaster had long left, the little box he had was sealed up tight. They walked to the boat and he helped her step in before untying it and getting inside himself. "Let me just get the motor and we'll be off."

Bumi reached over and gave a few yanks until the small engine puffed to life, sending them over the waves. Lin didn't much care for boats but with it being as calm as it was she didn't mind too bad – she was just thankful it wasn't making her feel sick. She gripped the side of the boat as it went across, looking over to see the little bit of light still shining reflecting off the top of the water.

When they got near the dock Bumi cut the speed down and came in to find his normal spot occupied. He smirked, "That's not supposed to be there…" he muttered with annoyance.

"Oh?" Lin said, close enough to the short that she was able to bend the sand over and cut the rope off the boat that was in his place. "What's not supposed to be there again?" she asked with a small laugh. Bumi couldn't help but laugh along with her as the other boat drifted off to the side.

He tied off his boat and took the piece of rope from the previous one before tossing it into the water. "Well here we are!" Bumi stepped out of the boat to help Lin up to the dock. He paused as the other boat that she had cut loose was still drifting. "Maybe just… stop it there?" he suggested. Lin rolled her eyes and made a small cage of pillars shoot from the water to lock the boat in place. Whoever's boat it was would have one hell of a time getting it free in the morning.

They walked to the house, not seeing any activity given the time of night. Bumi led her inside and stopped by the kitchen to see if anyone was still up. Seeing nobody he then led on to the living room, where a radio was sitting near the couch. It was hardly ever used by anyone, the newfangled technology scaring off some of the more superstitious acolytes. He had seen his parents use it now and then and even Kya had it on for music once.

He ushered for Lin to sit and stepped up to the radio to turn it on. The static came across the airwaves as he focused the tuner to a station that was still on at this hour. It was down to a loud program covering a boxing match that would likely wake someone or there was some music playing from at least a decade before. He put on the music and kept the volume low, sitting down next to Lin. He patted his hands on his thighs softly, not in tune with the music but just because he was still a little unsure about the kiss that was earlier.

He glanced over to her and received a smile, "Tonight was a lot of fun." she put her hand on his, stopping his drumming. Bumi gulped a little as she scooted closer.

"Yeah, it definitely," he yawned, "It definitely was." Lin leaned against his arm, her head on his shoulder as they both listened to the quiet music. By now he wasn't feeling so intimidated by her touch and relaxed – a little too much. He found himself asleep shortly, Lin still having her hand on his and looking at his hand not noticing that fact. The songs played on and she lightly rubbed her thumb on the top of his hand until her eyes closed. She lied to herself and said it would be 'just for a minute', and was just as asleep as Bumi as soon as that minute was up.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Lin stirred at the sound of muffled whispering voices, readjusting herself slightly thinking it was still just the radio playing. "They're so cute together like that…" said one, "I never would have imagined the day," from another. Still another said, "Let me get the camera." She held tighter to Bumi's arm, wishing he had left the radio quieter. When her eyelids flashed red from a burst of light and a strange sound they popped open to see Kya holding a camera, with Aang and Katara standing behind her.

"Kya! You woke her up." Katara scolded, but looked sweetly to Lin. "Good morning. Would you care for some breakfast?" she asked as if she hadn't just been watching Lin sleeping with her son on the couch.

Lin blinked a few times and sat up, Bumi was still not awake from the flash. Not wanting to be rude she nodded, "Sure, I guess…"

"If you want your clothes washed there's a change of clothes that would probably fit you from Kya's room or maybe acolyte robes? I don't think you'd like the robes though." Aang added, since Lin had slept in her clothes from the night before. At all the talking at full volume Bumi yawned and woke up, stretching and smacking his mouth. He turned his head to see Lin and then his parents, and then finally Kya with a camera still in her hands.

"Oh… This is bad, isn't it…?" he didn't know what his parents were thinking since he hadn't heard the whispers but Lin put her hand on his arm.

"Your mom said breakfast is ready. I agreed to stay for it." She smiled and finally stood up. "I guess I'll take you up on that offer, if you don't mind Kya?" Kya shook her head and turned towards the hallway.

"Come on, I think I have some things that you might be ok with." They walked off and Lin gave a final look to Bumi before they rounded a corner.

Bumi looked to his parents and gave a goofy grin and a shrug. "Hope it was ok of me to have her over."

"Of course! She's a good family friend and all, regardless of if you two are dating." his mother seemed to be beaming at the thought, but Bumi still turned beet red from the way she said it. "But Bumi? You should go change too. Ok, sweetie?" she kissed his forehead before turning to Aang, "Remember when we were that young?" she asked quietly as she led him towards the kitchen, leaving Bumi with the radio.

He finally stood up and turned it off, still playing the same sort of music as the night before, and headed to his own room, ditching his clothes in a pile and hopping into the shower. While he did that, Kya was tossing her own clothing about her room – which was a mess even _before_ they had started looking for clothes for Lin to wear. So far all Kya said was allowable was a pair of slacks that were at least three sizes too large on Kya and a tank top that had seen better days. While Kya busied herself with making a tornado of clothing, Lin sifted through what Kya said wasn't good for her. She picked out a decent shirt and the pants Kya had said were alright and changed quickly without Kya even noticing.

"Ok?" she waited for Kya to look up. Kya didn't know what Lin was asking until she finally turned her head.

"Oh! That looks cute! Ok I guess that shirt _was_ allowable…" she kicked her discarded clothes towards the closest as she walked back to Lin, who had picked up her dirty ones in her arms. Kya grabbed them from her.

"I'll have an acolyte take care of these for you!" she smiled and walked out, an acolyte apparently had been waiting for them anyway, taking the clothes when Kya handed them to her. The acolyte walked briskly away, Kya turned to her friend and smiled, "They're all so nice… But they gossip like you wouldn't believe!" she laughed.

Lin and Kya headed back to the room that she had been sleeping on the couch with Bumi earlier and then into the dining area, where Bumi, Katara, and Aang were already seated and waiting. Bumi had changed, Lin noticed. She went to sit next to him, seeing as how that seemed to be where everyone was subtly hinting for her to.

She could smell the shampoo Bumi had used and smiled slightly from it. She hadn't really noticed the night before, but it was the same stuff he had used even when they were kids, either that or it smelled exactly the same. Tenzin was the only member of the family that was notably absent, a vacant seat between Kya and Aang. Lin didn't think much of it, but Bumi was curious.

The food was already set out for them to take and Bumi waited until everyone else had their food before taking any for himself, Katara was the only one that noticed, since Bumi was usually the _first_ to. She saw that it wasn't that he was waiting for _them_ so much as waiting for _Lin_.

When they all had their food, all eyes eventually would settle on Bumi and Lin now and again, accompanied by little smiles. Nobody wanted to ask, except Kya – who wanted to ask so badly she thought she'd explode but kept it to herself so she wouldn't make the meal awkward. After another few minutes of silence Aang finally spoke up.

"So sweetie, I have to go to see your brother later for some Council matters, want to come with?" he took another bite of his food and as soon as Katara's mouth opened to respond, Kya practically burst out of her seat.

"HOW WAS IT WHAT DID YOU DO WHERE DID YOU GO?!" she had a smile on her face as she looked between Lin and Bumi repeatedly after having asked the things on everyone's minds. Lin wiped her mouth with her napkin and smiled, Bumi on the other hand looked petrified at his sister's outburst.

Lin responded while Bumi just looked on, "We went to that new place. Narook's? Bumi and you went there the other day or something. Then we walked to the bay… Then he took us back here on his boat. We listened to the radio and it was late so I guess we were tired and fell asleep. Ok? It was a great time." Kya plopped back in her seat, satisfied until she had another question.

Bumi blinked and then shrugged, not really needing to add anything else. He took another bite of his food as Katara turned back to her husband after staring at Kya. "Sure, I haven't seen him in a few days, that'd be-"

"WAIT! Did you two kiss?" Kya asked with a grin, Katara rolling her eyes at the interruption.

"…nice, thank you." she finished and gave Aang a kiss on the cheek. Then she turned her head to Bumi and Lin. "Well? Did you?"

Bumi sunk down in his seat out of embarrassment, and Lin became slightly flushed. That was all the answer Kya needed.

"You _**DID**_! Oh spirits I'm gonna write this down." she laughed to herself and took another bite of her own food, thoroughly satisfied with how breakfast had turned out.

Bumi cleared his throat and tried to think of something to say. "That… uh… outfit looks nice on you Lin…" he had long since run out of ideas on what to say to her. Kya grimaced, not at the comment towards Lin, but that he had told Kya the shirt was ugly when she came home with it. For once, she kept it to herself, finding the attempt by Bumi sweet enough to earn a pass from her retort.

"Oh, thanks. It's Kya's, obviously…" Lin was bad at accepting compliments because of how rarely she received them, but tried her best. "Thanks again, Kya." she looked over.

"Sure! Why don't you keep it? It looks better on you anyway." Kya smiled and finished the last of her food.

"Oh no, I couldn't." Lin began to excuse herself from the offer.

"I insist." Kya held her hand up to cease any further conversation regarding it.

"Well… Thanks again. Again."

The meal was nearly over as it was, and Kya had plans to meet with friends. She left the room after saying some quick goodbyes with a lingering look and smile at Lin and Bumi. After she left, Aang stood as well.

"I should probably get going too, if I want to make it by the time I'm supposed to. Ready to go?" he held his hand out to Katara, who used it to stand and give him a kiss.

"Gross, Ma! Oogies." Bumi said under his breath.

Katara and Lin both rolled their eyes at the same time, but Aang and his wife gave their son a hug each, Katara placing a kiss on his forehead. Lin also received a hug, and Katara gave a maternal kind of kiss to her cheek. They exited, chatting about what Aang's plans were for the day.

Being left alone, Bumi looked to Lin. "Sorry about Kya…"

"Don't be, she's my friend as well as your sister. It isn't like we couldn't have guessed she'd have been like that. But _don't_ let that picture she took end up anywhere where my mother or sister can see it." she said sternly.

"Will do. So I guess I should take you back home now, huh?"

"I guess, I mean I didn't even tell my Mom I was going out, and definitely not with whom. Not that she'd mind if she knew it was you or anything. She's just… Being her, lately." At some point, her clothes had been cleaned and dried, and were folded on a chair near the doorway. Neither had noticed them being placed there, but Lin made a note of it for when she left.

"Not to be too forward, but you _could_ stay here whenever you like. Not like my parents haven't offered a million and one times in the past. And it wouldn't be like we're sharing a bed or a room or anything, so I don't think it would be a problem." he shrugged.

"Sure, I'll keep the offer in mind." she smiled, "But I definitely need to tell my mother or she will flip out. Thanks, Bumi." Lin kissed his cheek and he turned to putty. He sighed softly and sat there looking at her with his signature grin. After about five minutes of them sitting together, he stood, helping her up.

"I guess we should get you home by now, it's starting to get late in the morning." She grabbed her clothes when they walked past them. After a minute, they were outside and passing by Aang and Katara, who were just about to leave on Appa. They waved to Bumi and Lin who waved back, heading down to the dock to see the boat that Lin had trapped had at some point been freed, or the tide had risen enough for it to get loose and drift away.

The waves were larger today, but Lin didn't even realize it until they were nearly across the water and slowing, the waves causing the boat to rise and fall much more than it had the night before. They were close enough to shore that she hadn't felt the effect for long before the boat was tied off and she was on the pier. They grabbed a cab to her house, the ride not taking all that long to make it.

When they got there, Lin sighed. It was partly over the date being officially over, and partly because she was wary of going home. Bumi exited but was too slow to stop her from getting her own door, her feet connecting with the ground just as he was reaching for it. From his momentum they collided in a sort of odd hug, but Lin went with it and wrapped her arms around his torso. He was a little surprised at it, but his arms went around her as well.

The cab driver was one of if not the only patient one in the city – he waited for their hug to end and made a little cough for his payment. Bumi turned, "Oh, right. Sorry." as he handed the driver more than enough to cover the amount. "Keep it." He smiled, allowing the large tip since the cabby had been nice enough to wait. He close the door and walked with Lin, her arm around him still, and his on her shoulder.

It felt a little odd at first, walking like that with one of his closest friends, but he also felt it to be… right. They made it to the door and paused, Bumi looking to Lin with a smile. "Thanks for everything Bumi." she said.

He took the initiative this time, leaning down and giving her a small kiss. When he pulled back she was still looking at his eyes, before she stepped up and kissed him like she had the night before, and it had the same effect on him as it had then. When it inevitably ended, she smiled and opened the door.

"Free tomorrow?" she asked with a gleam in her eye.

"Sure, what ti-"

"Make it three." she stepped inside. "See you then!"

"Yeah, see you then." Bumi replied as she closed the door. He took a few moments to think about how it had been the past two days between the time of asking her out and the time of her essentially asking him out. He turned around and let out a mighty yell of "WAAAHOOOO!" for all to hear before starting to head home.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

[So this chapter is different, it's not really filler so much as tying up some areas that, if left untied, would have wreaked havoc on the story later.]

By the time Bumi arrived home, lunch had already been prepared. He had taken a small detour just to think while he was still in the city and lost track of time. It was nice for him just to be able to get out and be on his own for awhile, he actually felt relaxed. He wasn't all that hungry when lunch was served but he made himself eat a little bit so he wouldn't have to come back for something else later. His parents were still meeting with his uncle, and he couldn't find his siblings around.

He hadn't thought of it before, but Tenzin must have seen him and Lin together while they were still asleep. It would explain why he was absent from breakfast and still now at lunch. But Bumi decided to let the matter go – Tenzin blew it, and if he was upset by Bumi and Lin then it was tough luck. He hadn't any idea what was supposed to be going on today, so Bumi grabbed the daily paper that had been left on the coffee table like normal and flipped through it.

After being dropped off by Bumi, Lin hadn't done much besides smile. Eventually she went to get a glass of water and saw the flowers he had given her were still in a normal cup, so she decided to fix that. In one of the cabinets was a wine decanter that was never used, and it seemed nice enough. Lin filled it up with water and placed the flowers inside, rearranging them slightly after they slid around.

She didn't want to just leave them anywhere in the house and figured her room was an appropriate location for them. When she walked in and flipped on the light she saw it hadn't changed from the other day – she had been worried that her mother would have been snooping when she found that Lin wasn't at home. Since that wasn't the case, she set the floral arrangement on her nightstand and sat on her bed. She still was wearing Kya's clothes she had been given, and right after she had been dropped off she had left her own clothes in the other room.

Having nothing better to do, she retrieved them and put them away. They looked almost brand-new after the acolytes washed them, the colors had been fading slightly in a couple spots but now it was completely reversed. Whatever they had done, Lin was impressed. Her stomach grumbled which caused her to look at the clock – seeing that it was already nearly lunch. With a shrug she went and opened the pantry, finding nothing more than an empty box of crackers and some canned vegetables that had to have been from before Su was born.

She threw out the empty box and closed the pantry door before seeing if there was at least something in the ice box. When she popped it open she saw some meat that was frozen solid and then some milk. Slim pickings. Lin grabbed the milk and popped open the breadbox, thankful that she could at least have some toast.

Lin had her modest meal alone, while her mother and sister were out. When she was finished, Lin grabbed her book for studying and went back to it as she had been the past few weeks – even though it seemed like months. When she was about halfway through her studies, the door opened and a _very_ upset Suyin entered the home. She threw her bag with her school books down and stormed around through the house with a series of 'urgh's and 'ugh's as she went. Lin ignored her sister when she went past but nearly dropped her book when a shriek came from the kitchen.

"DID YOU THROW OUT MY CRACKERS?!" she rushed back into the room and confronted Lin, who rolled her eyes and placed her bookmark where she was and closed it.

"You mean the empty _box_? And they aren't _your_ crackers to begin with!" Lin barked, looking back at her sister.

"Yes they were! And it wasn't empty this morning!" Su's gaze could have burned holes in anyone that wasn't her Lin or Toph.

"Well I wouldn't know since I haven't been home since _yesterday_!" Lin brought her hand to her mouth at letting that fact slip since she hadn't informed her mother or sister before going on the date, let alone that she wasn't coming home.

Su was still infuriated about the crackers, but the knowledge that Lin hadn't been home was a tease too tempting to resist. "Well if you weren't here… where _were_ you?" Su placed her hands on her hips as she waited for an answer.

"None of your business." Lin replied, picking her book back up.

Su made a *hmpf* sound and snatched the book out of her sister's hands. "Tell me or the book gets it!" Su backed up to the fireplace and tossed the book onto the partially charred logs. Lin jumped off the couch as soon as Su made a move, but knew if she rushed her or damaged the house in any way it would be bad for both of them. Su had a match in her hands ready to toss into the small pile of kindling that was always in the fireplace to make it easier to get prepared sooner, and also happened to be perfectly situated under the book to damage it enough by the time Lin grabbed it she'd be unable to use it.

Lin snapped, "I was at Air Temple Island." she folder her arms. "If you _must_ know."

"Why?" Su struck the match and lit it, holding it so it would burn slowly.

"Give me my book back and I'll tell you." Lin wouldn't tell her without the book as collateral and they both knew it.

"No. Tell me and you get the book back." her hand moved closer to the fireplace.

Lin's hand reached out, "Stop! Fine. You win. Happy?" Lin sighed, "I was out with Bumi…" she muttered.

"Pfft! Just for that I don't even care now! Bye-bye book!" her hand moved into the fireplace.

"It's the truth! We went on a…"

Su retracted her hand, hearing the difference in Lin's tone. "Went on a…?"

"He asked me on a date. I said yes. We went on a date and it was too late to ask him to take me back home so I stayed there. Ok?!"

"Ok." Su let the match fall and extinguish on the bricks as she set the flipbook of them back and walked to the kitchen. "But I'm _still_ mad about my crackers."

Lin moved and grabbed her book, brushing off the deposits from the wood. She glared at Su as she walked on to her room as if nothing happened. "What did I ever do to deserve _her_ as a sister…?" she said quietly to herself.

Bumi, on the other hand, was dealing with his own sibling trouble. He had seen Tenzin at least three times so far that day, but Tenzin had avoided him each and every time. Bumi couldn't pin his brother down to confront him. It was driving him mad. Finally he just went and sat down on the edge of a walkway to think. Tenzin was his brother, and even with all the pranks and teasing he still loved him like one. He didn't know what to do.

Little did either Tenzin or Bumi know, but Bumi was in the perfect position to trap the wandering Tenzin as he came down the stairs. As soon as Tenzin turned the corner at the bottom, Bumi looked up and narrowed his eyes. His hand shot out and grabbed Tenzin's clothing before he could sprint away like the last times. "Got ya!" Bumi gave a yank and pulled his brother closer.

"Bumi! Let me go! I have… things to do!" Tenzin squirmed in his grasp but he wasn't getting out of the grip without hurting his brother or stripping out of his clothes, and he didn't wish to do either of those.

"Not until you tell me what's going on!" Bumi insisted, his normally happy expression a mix of confusion and anger. "Why have you been avoiding me?"

"I-I haven't! Just been busy is all." Tenzin looked away like he always did when he lied.

Bumi sighed and released his brother, "Tenzin… Don't lie to me. I want to know what's going on. You weren't at breakfast, you've been hiding from me, and now you're lying to my face."

Tenzin took a step away and was going to leave when he realized it wasn't fair to his brother to do this to him. "I… saw you and Lin this morning. That's it. Can I go now?"

"I thought so. If you want to go, go. If you want me to explain, don't." Bumi sat back down and Tenzin turned and did the same. "I like Lin. A lot. I have for awhile now and I asked her out. We went on a date yesterday and have another for tomorrow." Bumi had always been one to hold nothing back, give all the information at once instead of spoon feeding someone.

"So. You see I like a girl and you steal her away from me?!" Tenzin puffed up and stood once again, beginning to walk away.

"Are you _honestly_ that petty? You think I'd date someone just to get to you? Really? You know what? I don't care what you think, enjoy your sulking." Bumi spun around and hopped into the courtyard, walking towards the rear entrance of the area where his room was located. Tenzin watched him go and knew he had been rash and hurtful with what he said, but he wasn't willing to go talk to Bumi more yet. He didn't know if he'd be able to at all.

By the time dinner rolled around, Bumi still hadn't come out of his room. And after dinner passed and everyone started to head to bed, his parents were worried. Tenzin had been at dinner and seemed moody, but nothing more than that. Katara said she was going to check on him but Aang insisted that he do it. He walked to the room and knocked on the door, "Boom? You there?"

"What is it." Bumi said flatly not as a question, but as a demand.

"Can I come in?" Aang popped the door open slightly but didn't enter.

"Yeah, I guess." Aang entered the room and saw Bumi had his sword out for cleaning. It was shining like he had been for hours, and Aang assumed that's exactly what had happened.

"Missed you at dinner."

"Wasn't hungry."

"Bumi, what's wrong?" Aang moved to sit on the bed.

Bumi sighed, "Tenzin thinks I'm dating Lin as if I'm doing it to spite him and I tried to talk to him but he's being ridiculous." Bumi applied more oil to the cleaning rag and slowly dragged it across the length of metal.

"Oh… I understand then."

"_Do_ you? Last I checked you didn't have a brother who thought your only objective in life was to make him miserable." Bumi shook his head and made more aggressive swipes along the blade.

"You're right, I don't understand in that way. But I see where you're both coming from. Obviously Tenzin's just taking it a little hard, but he'll come around in time. Don't worry about him, he's just… Tenzin." Aang shrugged, putting his hand on Bumi's as it moved along the sheen of the blade. "I think if you do that anymore and you'll end up erasing the metal!" Despite still being upset, the joke drew a small smile from Bumi. He put the cloth aside and twisted the cap back on the bottle of oil.

"I guess you're right… but it doesn't make it hurt any less." Bumi frowned and placed the sword in its sheathe before moving it to the bottom of the bed. "I'm going out again tomorrow."

"With Lin?"

"With Lin." he nodded. "I… We… We're having a lot of fun, Dad." Aang put his arm around Bumi and hugged him.

"I know. And I'm glad. Just made sure you be safe and don't hurt that girl, she could destroy you in an instant!" They both laughed and Bumi pulled back a little.

"Thanks Dad. Could you… could you maybe talk to Tenzin about it all? I know he doesn't want to see me – and frankly between you and me? I don't really want to see him all that much either for a little while."

"Sure thing, Boom."

**Author's Note: [For Dickard23 in regards to chapter 5: Haha I know I just was meaning for Toph to "see" it as in she'd know how a picture feels like and if she asked what it showed, when someone told her she would possibly react very poorly. Plus if Su saw it you _know_ she'd rat considering the stage of life she's in and how she acts.]**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

At breakfast the next day, Tenzin seemed more relaxed. He had even been able to look in Bumi's direction now and then. Whatever their father had said to Tenzin between talking to Bumi and breakfast seemed to have worked. While he didn't really care either way, Bumi was glad to be past the petty argument with his brother.

He kept a steady eye on the clock as the minutes ticked by until it was time for him to leave. Lunch came and went, but he figured that he'd rather be hungry in case Lin wanted to get something. Bumi wasn't sure what they were going to do, but he didn't care – he just wanted to do anything, _everything_ with her.

Lin did something she never did, sleeping in well into the late morning. She was alone once more, her mother at work and her sister at school – well at least _supposed_ to be at school. Yet again, no groceries had been brought home by her mother, the pantry still bare and even less food around. She was famished, but decided to stick it out in case Bumi had been planning on lunch.

With a smirk, she went back into her room and looked for something to wear. She had never bought many clothes, finding the same few sets working just as well as if she never had to wear the same thing twice. She placed a few shirts out on her bed, figuring the pants she already had put on just for the day would suit well enough. Standing there with her hands on her hips and a smirk, she looked at each of the shirts.

She couldn't decide what would look good so she just snagged the one she had placed in the middle and changed into it. Unlike the other night she decided that makeup wasn't necessary – then again, Lin never thought makeup was _necessary_ for anything. She walked out of her room and picked up her book, the back still discolored from Su's little 'game' the day before. She opened it and began to read, but found herself unable to concentrate of the words inside it.

Lin huffed before closing the book and leaning back into her seat. She waved her hand and the radio clicked on when she bent the knob. Whatever station was on before was still playing, so she just sat back and listened to the news program that was on. Something about the Council, some mumbo-jumbo over pirates, a few other minor bulletins. She hadn't felt this bored in ages, just needing time to go faster.

Finally she stood and went out in her back yard, the sunlight shining through the trees to land on her in mix and match patterns of the leaves and branches. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly for a minute before she began to practice some earthbending forms. While she didn't really need to, it at least would pass the time.

When it hit 1 o'clock, Bumi decided to leave. It was so boring when he was the only one without plans or things spontaneously going on – for another two hours at least. He figured he could just head over and, if need be, sit on the curb until three. It took about forty minutes for him to be by her house, his boat had given him some problems halfway across the water and he had to row the remaining distance, not that that had been difficult for him.

When he approached her house from the street, he heard sounds from the back. Curious, he walked around the side slowly. A chunk of earth flew past his face when he rounded a corner causing him to duck back. He slowly peeked around again to see Lin bending. Her hair had fallen loose, either that or she had never bothered to style it that morning. Bumi had rarely ever seen her hair down, and he immediately fell in love with the look.

While she wasn't aware of his presence, he walked over to a tree for cover so that he could observe her without being struck by a boulder. She spun mid air, kicking rocks and hurling them around, the yard was pockmarked where the earth had been removed – it looked like a warzone. She kicked a large section his way and stopped when she saw he was in the way, yanking at the missile of earth to change the trajectory away from him. She smiled, walking over to him as she tried to catch her breath.

Bumi peeked around the tree and smiled, "Uh… hey!" he waved, getting up to meet her halfway.

"Is it three already?" she asked as the distance closed. Her hand came up and moved some hair behind her ear. Bumi took a moment to register what she had asked from seeing her look like that. He rapidly blinked.

"Phew… What? Huh? Oh, nope, it's just after two…" he smiled, putting his hand on the back of his neck.

Lin smiled, but then raised her brow, "Then what're you doing here…? And why were you watching me?" She wasn't upset about it, just intrigued.

"Oh, I just was bored. And when I came over I heard you in the back, I didn't know what was going on so I came back to check up." Bumi shrugged. She smiled and gave him a quick hug.

She pulled back, "Oh sorry… I should probably take a shower now, shouldn't I?" she smirked, realizing she had worked up a sweat from the bending. Lin gave him a quick kiss before turning to go into the house. He stood there and she looked back over her shoulder, "You coming? There _is_ a couch you can wait on instead of staying outside…"

Bumi's eyes widened at the first part of the sentence, relaxing when she clarified. "Oh uh, yeah sure…" he shrugged and followed her inside. He sat on the couch she had mentioned as she walked past to shower. It didn't take her more than ten minutes to reemerge in a new chage of clothes – she had taken another of the shirts from her bed.

"You hungry?" she asked him, leaning over the couch back and wrapping her arms around to his chest.

"Yes. You?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't! Why don't we get going then, we can get something on the way." She took his hand in hers and led him out, walking down the side of the street. "So what's the plan?" she smiled at him.

"I looked in the paper earlier, there wasn't a ton going on… Oh! There was one of those 'pro-bending' things, never been to one of those. That sound good?" he shrugged, smiling back. She tapped her chin with her finger.

She nodded, "Sure, why not? My mother took me to a few of those earth rumbles when I was little-" she laughed, "She still has the title, you know?! The belt's hung in her room." Bumi laughed at that as well.

"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest…" They walked for a ways before he looked at her, "Uh… where was that arena again?"

"I actually was following you!" she gave his arm a playful shot of Beifong love.

"Sorry!" he rubbed his arm, "Probably should have hailed a cab earlier!" Bumi pulled her close to him with one arm.

"S'okay." Lin said as she waved to a few passing cabs. One stopped and the rest moved on, seeing their potential fare was claimed. They entered the cab, "The pro-bending arena?" she said, leaning against Bumi's arm. Apparently they had been going the wrong direction; the cab had to turn around to be headed the correct way.

It took much longer than they had expected, there was unexpected traffic partway there which held them up. By the time they got there, both of them felt like they would eat just about anything. "Concessions stand?"

"Concessions stand." she agreed. They walked up to the ticket booth, purchased entry tickets, and headed inside. The noise was intense, yelling and screaming back and forth by fans. There were employees walking with popped corn and drinks as well as miscellaneous foods.

Bumi stopped a few, purchasing whatever it was that they were selling, before Lin and him found a seat nearest the middle as they could. The lights dimmed, an announcer speaking about the matchups for the night and the location of the betting areas. Spotlights spun around the arena when the teams entered to a chorus of cheers and boos.

During the first fight, it seemed as though one team was going to sweep the other, being that they were clearly outmatching their opponents. But surprisingly the other team started to make a comeback. "Get 'em! Kick his ass!" Lin yelled when it was down t between an earth bender and a water bender.

The water bender tried to sweep his leg, but the earth one slammed a disc down to sever the connection of the water. A disc went flying past the water bender, a complete miss, or so it appeared. The water bender still was thrown off balance to dodge and that was when a second disc crashed into his ankle, knocking him flat.

"Yeah! That'll teach him!" Lin yelled once more, Bumi put his arm around her shoulder and threw his fist into the air with hers.

"Yeah! Get him!" Bumi laughed after. Lin smiled at him, her hand reaching up to his cheek. Her fingers tugged his beard until he looked at her just before she kissed him slowly. It wasn't like the last ones, but had just the same effect on both of them. During the kiss, they missed as the earth bender sent another two discs into the fallen water bender – sending him off the edge of the ring and winning the match to the cheers of that team's supporters.

They sat there, kissing well into the next match, their half-eaten snacks long forgotten about. He finally pulled back, smiling at her. She smiled back, hand holding his cheek. He placed his hand on hers, taking it in his hand and placing a kiss on her wrist. The rest of the night for the following matches was mostly spent with them smiling at each other, occasionally cheering when an earth bender was winning.

The final match was up before they knew it, mid-kiss as the horn sounded. They were so lost in each other that they hadn't even heard it, and still hadn't noticed when the entire arena's population dispersed, leaving them alone with the clean-up staff. Bumi finally saw someone sweeping the aisle they were sitting in and realized what that meant. "What-?" he pulled away again, Lin quickly pressing another kiss to him as he did. "What time is it?" he looked at his watch.

Lin frowned when he showed her most of the afternoon had been spent there, blending into the evening. "Ready to go then…?"

"I guess so." He shrugged. They stood and walked out of the arena, their hands clasped together. It was getting a little dark out, but it was pleasant. "Care for some dinner?"

"Sure, you buyin'?" Lin laughed, "Don't answer that. You paid last time, I insist this time. Ok?" she kissed his cheek. Bumi rolled his eyes, but couldn't _not_ smile.

"Fine…" he conceded, looking at the places along the path they were heading. "What about this place?" he offered, nodding towards a small establishment. She shrugged and walked him inside. It was somewhat cozy, a little… sporty, but still cozy nonetheless.

They seated themselves, grabbing a few lighter drinks and a nice filling meal. Lin was surprised at how good it was, but decided not to question it. The minutes and soon hours ticked by, again getting late; later than the first date had gone. When they left the streets were nearly empty, and they took a cab back to her home. He walked her to the door, but she paused before opening it.

He cupped her cheek and gave her a final kiss for the night, when it ended she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He reciprocated and smiled. "Night, Lin. Tomorrow?"

"Sure. Tomorrow. Night, Boom." She entered the house to be assaulted with yelling between her mother and sister, embarrassed that Bumi was within range to hear it. She waved to him when he was by the curb, seeing him smile before waving in return. That smile made her forget all about the screaming that was going on right in front of her as she went to her room for the evening.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

For

After three weeks, Lin and Bumi had been on quite a few dates, for the most part informal. A dinner here, a small even there, followed by some time at one or the other's home – usually Bumi's. Su had fallen in with a bad crowd at school, and through them been missing school to do other things. Toph was too busy at work to notice, or frankly even care, about what was going on. Lin had given up on caring, she had tried to help Su and been pushed away too many times to care anymore either.

The night before, Bumi had asked Lin about the upcoming play. Some newer production with a weird name he couldn't pronounce – but it had gotten fairly good reviews, and Lin seemed to want to attend. The only time he could get tickets, even slipping the Beifong name in at the box office, was the next day – Friday. What was good about the slight delay was that Lin had nothing appropriate to wear for such an event, and she would need to grab something as quickly as possible.

Bumi apologized profusely about the fact that he couldn't get tickets for that night, much to Lin's dismay. She ended up at his home for awhile and made up an excuse to leave early so she could purchase something to wear. He was reluctant to let her leave, feeling like she was upset with him despite her insistence that she wasn't. They said their goodbyes for the evening and Lin rushed off into the city. It was already getting late by the time she was able to get near the shopping district, rushing out of the cab and nearly forgetting to pay.

The first few shops were closing up, but by the fourth she entered it was still open for enough time that she'd be able to be fitted and get the dress by the next day. The woman at the counter was much less than thrilled at a customer entering that needed to be fitted, considering the hour, but when Lin dropped her name and that she'd pay extra for the rush order the woman's eyes lit up as she buzzed around her with a tape measure and notepad. In ten minutes Lin was sized, just needing to pick out exactly what she wanted for the dress.

She hemmed and hawed over a few different designs and colors for well over twenty minutes, and into the time the shop was supposed to be closed. Finally she settled on a rich green with a small amount of a golden trim throughout. Lin was taken over to another counter and had to fill out her information for delivery and payment, taking another fifteen minutes until she was finally able to leave. She was told the dress should be able to be delivered by tomorrow afternoon – which was assured by Lin paying an extra fee for the rush.

Sure enough, at around 3 the next day there was a knock on the door, a package to be signed for. When she brought it inside she found the exact look she had been promised, the dress perfect. Lin changed into it to test the fit, finding it to be better than any dress she had ever worn. The next couple hours she spent getting ready – the dress hanging up so that it wouldn't get anything on it – she spent more time than she normally did for anything formal. But in the end she thought she was presentable, finally slipping back into the dress.

Bumi came by early by just under an hour, waiting by the door for a couple minutes trying to collect himself. When Lin answered the door his jaw hung open slightly at the sight of her.

"Too much?" she asked, a little hint of a smirk on her face.

Bumi chuckled, "You're kidding, right? You look amazing." He pulled her close into a kiss, hands on her hips. Her eyes widened a bit, but she went with it, her hands coming up to lightly set on his shoulders. They stayed like that for a few moments before pulling apart. "Shall we go? Or just kill some time here?"

"Ugh, let's go. I'd rather not have to deal with anything here." she nodded back towards the house.

"Yes, ma'am!" Bumi smiled, turning and offering her arm for her to take, which she did before they walked down to the street and got the cab to the theater. It was a slow go, luckily they left early. Traffic was abnormally bad, taking much longer than either of them would have anticipated getting to their destination. The theater was filling up fast; Bumi went to the ticket claim with Lin before they headed inside

The two of them made their way into the main seating, directed by an usher to their seats. Bumi smiled and looked at Lin, glancing at her form-fitting dress. It was much nicer than what he had expected; it nearly made him feel underdressed when compared to her. "I take it you like the dress?" she asked, raising a brow and smiling.

Bumi leaned over and briefly kissed her, "I love it. You look perfect." He moved back and sat in his seat. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped as the lights dimmed and rose before dimming again to signal the beginning of the show starting soon. A few moments later it began, colorfully costumed people coming out from hidden entrances and leaving at hidden exits.

Lin fidgeted with her hands for awhile, unsure of what to do. She hadn't been to something like this before, her mother hadn't been one for fancy occasions, and any play was usually a comedy. Eventually her hand slid slowly over and rested on top of Bumi's, which instinctively wrapped gently around hers. His thumb rubbed slowly on her hand as they watched, sometimes looking over and smiling.

Before they knew it, the play was at intermission and Bumi was beyond confused with the plot development. But being himself, he was too embarrassed to ask Lin about just what had happened. "Interesting play…" he commented as they went to walk around for a bit. There was concessions right by the door, "Want anything?" he asked with a nod towards it.

"You know what? Sure. What do they have?" she asked as they walked over. Mostly all upper-class sorts of things, and an extensive amount of liquor, Lin picked out a bag of some snack or the other and simply got a water to go with it. Bumi figured he'd try something new, getting the same snack as Lin – one he had never heard of and assumed was imported. They walked past the massing crowd, looking around at the theater works from the past and upcoming. "Bumi? Can I ask you something?" she turned to him.

"Sure, what's on your mind?"

"Why? Why me? It seems like everyone else is afraid of me, or my mother, or… So why aren't you?" she sighed lightly after finally having asked the question that had been on her mind for the last few days.

Bumi thought for a moment, "No idea. Why _not_ you? That's a better question. You're fantastic! I'm not afraid of you or your mother. I just thought that it'd be worth a shot. Is… This isn't something bad, is it?" his face grew sad at the idea that she might be calling it off.

Lin's hand went to his cheek, "No, you big lug. I was just wondering. Come on, let's go back to our seats." she smiled and took hold of his hand. They went back into the theater and sat back down, taking their time to enjoy what they had bought at the concessions stand. Bumi didn't really care for it all that much, but Lin seemed to like it so he continued to eat it. Little did he know that Lin didn't like it much either and was eating it simply because he was as well.

"Wanna head back to my place after for some time with the radio or something?" he wasn't sure what else to do until the show started again besides a bit of small-talk.

She looked over, "Sure, I doubt there's much that'll be going on otherwise." Bumi grinned and looked to see most of the audience had returned to their seat, the lights doing another preliminary flicker for when the intermission was about to end.

The play continued on, leaving Bumi confused throughout. He hadn't really cared about seeing it, he just thought Lin would enjoy something like this. But he watched it anyway, trying to make the most out of the show. It seemed to drag on forever, until finally the cast were all on stage and taking a bow. Bumi applauded enthusiastically as did everyone else, grateful for it to be finished.

"I have no idea what was going on during that." Lin admitted with a shrug after they went outside.

Bumi laughed in response, "Me neither. I was going to ask if you did when we got back, but I guess we're both up a creek on that one!" Lin let out a sigh of relief that she wasn't alone in not understanding what was going on. It seemed like one moment the main character was fighting the antagonist and the next they were best friends with no transition, unless they both missed something.

An hour and a half later they were back at his home, relaxing on the couch and listening to the radio – similar to how they had after that first date weeks before. Bumi yawned, covering it with his hand as Lin leaned over against him. It was a newer song that was playing, slower than most but still pretty upbeat.

"Lin? Do you… Do you want to move in here?" Bumi finally asked, looking at her slowly. "I mean, I get if you don't but I was just thinki-" he was silenced by a kiss.

"I think that'd be nice… I need to get away from home for awhile and… So yes, I'll take you up on that." she smiled. She had taken a chance on him with going on a date, and figured that since that went so well that taking another chance would just be all the better.


	9. Chapter 9

[I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO DOOOOO. Ok so I got on spring break and was going to write a bunch and then I got sick... And then stuff happened... Anyway here's chapter nine finally! Enjoy!]

Chapter Nine

After Lin moved in, it was a bit of an adjustment period. While everyone was fine with it, it was still something new. Bumi had been glad that everything went smoothly, considering that he had been worried about her mother being upset at the idea but Toph apparently had been so busy with work and Su's antics that it was actually seen as a good thing that Lin would be able to get away for a while. Kya, when she had found out, was beyond thrilled – vowing to help Lin with moving in and getting ready for dates and essentially all the sister things which Lin never really got from Su.

After a couple weeks, everyone seemed to be well adjusted to having Lin there with them. Bumi and her continued to go on a few dates and spent much of every day together. It was all going well, and then Lin's birthday was around the corner. She was to the point of whether she was going to take the police exam or not. She continued to cram her studying in whenever she could, which was becoming more and more difficult to do with Bumi stopping by to do something or go out or just chat – not that she minded.

While she was sitting there reading her massive tome of a book for the exam, there was a knock at her door. "Yeah?" she asked, knowing from the way the knock was done that it couldn't be anyone else but Bumi.

The door opened slightly and a hand slipped in before waving. "You busy?" he asked.

"Not more than normal, Bumi. What's up?" she answered, placing a bookmark where she was at before closing the book and setting it aside as he stepped in and smiled.

He went over and sat next to her, "So… do you wanna go out tonight?" he asked before kissing her cheek.

She shrugged slightly, "I don't know, I still want to study today." She frowned slightly, looking down.

Bumi looked at her softly and placed his hand on hers. She looked up at him before he began to speak, "Why do you want to be a cop?" he finally asked.

Lin immediately responded with "I want to protect people and serve the city." but she knew he wasn't asking for that.

"Ask yourself Lin… Are you doing this for you? Or to get approval from your mother…?" At his words she visibly stiffened, face turning hard when she looked at him.

"Of course I'm doing this for me." she snapped at him, pulling away. "Why would I do it for her? That's the stupidest thing you've ever said Bumi, and believe me when I say you've said some very stupid things." Lin caught herself after her outburst, the look on Bumi's face mirroring the one she had on the inside. It was like a dagger in her heart when he stood up and left the room without another word, her hand moving up to still him but no words coming out to follow up the action. She buried her face in her hands, feeling the tears she didn't know had started flowing at the realization of what she said.

Bumi walked down the hall, a cloud of sadness hanging over him as he made his way to his own room. A few acolytes he had befriended tried to talk to him but he cut them short and moved on until he made it to his quarters, closing the door and settling on his bed. He chastised himself for what he had said to her; he had wanted to have her think about that for a while, but her words still hurt him.

After about five minutes of him sulking in his room he got up and went to the door. Bumi took a deep breath and determined he'd go back to her and apologize for what he had said, rapidly blinking when he opened the door to see her standing there with slightly red eyes. They stood there in silence for a moment before he ushered her in, sitting in the same positions on his bed as they had hers.

They both started at the same time, "Lin I'm sorry." Bumi spoke over her more quiet voice.

She looked up to him and laughed quickly, "Sorry? For what?! Bumi… _I'm_ sorry… You're right and I shouldn't have said what I said." Lin looked at his sad eyes and placed a hand on his cheek.

"It isn't my place to have said that…" he barely whispered. She pressed her lips to his at that statement, a soft gentle kiss that made him break into a small smile. Anything else he had thought up to say fled from his mind, instead he simply looked at her.

Lin smiled, "Now _that's_ the stupidest thing you've ever said…" she teased before giving him another soft kiss. "You are within your 'place' to say things like that Bumi. That and more. And don't you forget it." she hit his arm just hard enough for him to rub it after, both of them smiling.

"What did you mean by 'I was right'…?" he asked slowly.

She cleared her throat, "You were. I haven't been doing things for myself… I've been doing them to try and make my mom happy, except this isn't going to make her happy. But… I don't know what else to do now if I _don't_ do this." Lin looked down, "There's nothing else I _could_ do…"

His arms wrapped around her warmly and squeezed softly, "You can do anything you want to, and that includes nothing if you don't want to… But just do what makes _you_ happy." She hugged him back, breathing shakily as she thought about what he was saying.

"I don't know…" she said quietly against his chest. He rubbed her back softly and sighed.

"There's nothing wrong with not knowing." he replied. "Just give it some thought." He smiled and kissed the top of her head.

She looked up at him, "I think I'm going to still go for it… if it doesn't work out nothing says I can't change my mind later, right?" she smiled.

"That's a good idea then, if you're going to do this for you."

"Well if I did it for her then even if I made chief someday she'd still not be happy, so what's the point of searching for approval that's never going to come?" She sighed, the realization having finally come to her after all he had said with so few words. She thought to herself for a moment about what she was now doing, but she was glad that she saw it all for what it was. "And yes… I think we should go out tonight."

Bumi grinned, taking her hand in his. He had gotten a letter today and hadn't been able to talk to her about what was in it. He figured that going out for dinner would be a nice way to bring it up. While she had her options open… Bumi's choice was practically made for him in that letter.


End file.
